Synergy (See #3)(67)

“But...?” I asked.

“But nothing. I’ll take them to Chara myself.”

“But you just said the myth was true,” I argued.

“I did,” he said, reaching for my shoulders. “I’ve only slept two hours over the past two days, and when I did, I saw my great grandson Preston tell me over and over again that he loved everyone, that both he and Libby loved everyone. They love Monroe and her brothers, and they’ll be protected from any myth by that love.”

“How sure are you?”

“If they show any signs of rejection, if they become sick in any way, we’ll get them out of there,” August swore.

“Will you stay with them in Chara?” I asked, trusting him.

“I’ll gladly take them, but my place is here. I assure you, our family there will care for them well.”

I looked deep into him, asking who his family was. I saw his soul mate, Landen’s mom, Willow’s mom in this life. I even saw Brady’s soul mate. There were more, but I was having enough trouble keeping up with who was who. I nodded, telling him I was agreeing with that.

“Gather some travelers so we can guide them home,” August said to Chrispin.

He left without question. Madison looked calmer, more like herself. I knew she was glad we were making some kind of headway with this crazy situation. “What time is it?” she asked.

“Dawn broke an hour before you arrived,” August answered.

“How long have the two of you been awake?” Olivia asked.

I glanced at Madison, wondering how big the time difference was there. I saw her eyes expand and knew she was seeing.

“If the time is the same, twenty-four hours,” I mumbled, making sure I wasn’t blocking anything from Madison. I was hoping that whatever block she had was fading and that she would see what was coming at her before it erupted all around us. A second later, two energy drinks appeared in her hand. Normally, I would have turned it down (I was high enough on adrenaline), but I wanted to be as alert as possible.

“Did you steal these?” I asked, popping the lid on mine.

“Yeah, from your fridge,” Madison said, finding me accusing her of stealing anything absurd.

“Did you see Mom?” I asked.

“Looks the same as we left it.”

I nodded once as I looked down. I couldn’t help wondering how she was really handling me being gone, if the reality had set in.

“Wait,” Olivia said. “How did you do that? Did you just see your way somewhere and bring something back?”

Madison nodded once, then said, “I’ll make a deal with you: I’ll teach you how to do that if you teach me how to use my energy as a weapon.”

“Deal,” Olivia said, completely captivated by us.

“May I ask who’s been mentoring you? Was it the child?” August asked.

“Not on how to do that,” I said, finishing my drink. “We stumbled onto that just like we stumbled onto The Realm.”

“Just like we stumble onto everything,” Madison added.

August nodded for us to move forward into the study. We sat down on one of the side couches by the fireplace, and he and Olivia sat on the one that faced the fireplace.

“So you’re seers?” August said.

I moved my head from side to side. “No, at least I don’t think so. Monroe, the girl with us, is a seer. She sees what will come; we see what happened,” I answered.

August nodded once as his eyes sparkled. “I’m honored. It’s been years since I’ve been in the presence of your kind.”

“Our kind?” Madison asked.

He folded his hands together as he leaned forward. He had all of our attention, especially Olivia’s; it was clear he was the one they looked to for counseling. “There are many words in many languages, but the closest name that would make any sense to you is a ‘living witness’.”

I glanced at my side at Madison, then to August. “Have you ever heard of an undead witness?”

“I have. They’re fierce. Most lore refers to them as archangels, or something close to that. They’re souls that are given a divine charge. At one time they were human, and their acts of bravery and integrity spared them from death and allowed them to become warriors for the lost, for the broken,” August explained.

I looked down as my nightmare; my past in Pompeii came to me. I doubted that my integrity gave me that charge; it was more like a punishment for being selfish, for not having the patience to let my life work itself out.

“I take it you’ve heard of them as well?” August said humbly.

“Yeah,” I said, reaching to squeeze Madison’s hand. “At one time, that was us; we were undead,” I said, not wanting to explain that not only did I know an undead witness, he was very in tune with this family.

August glanced to his side at Olivia, then to us with intriguing eyes. “You fell? All of you?”

I let out a gasp and a slight smile. It felt good to talk to someone that knew something about all of this, but I just didn’t have the time to explain all that had happened to us at that point.

“Not all of us,” I said, looking away.

“Do you have any idea how powerful that makes you?” August asked, leaning further forward.

“Not powerful; more like cursed,” I said, looking over my shoulder. Aden had found us; Brady had led him there. Brady nodded at us, then left the room. “Is everything OK?” I asked Aden. His eyes expanded, letting me in.